MAY 28, 1937

WASHINGTON, Thursday—Yesterday afternoon I attended the Garden Party at the Rectory of our church and just before going, the Heavens opened and a storm descended upon us. It cleared up rapidly but it gave me a sense of satisfaction to have someone else anxiously watching the weather!

I did not realize until I was actually talking to Mrs. Harriman on the air last night how sorry I would be to say goodbye to her. Ever since I can remember she has been a part of the Washington which I have known. I knew her before in New York, and intermittently she has been away in other places, but of late years she seemed to belong here, and I think both of us felt a little sorry when our conversation on the air ended, and I wished her good luck and "bon voyage."

A few people came to dinner and for the first time this year we sat out on the South portico afterwards; the moon was full, the Monument lighted up was a dazzling white with one little red light in the top. Later, when the flood light was turned off, you could see clearly only the top of the Monument emerging from the blackness below.

The big magnolia tree planted by Andrew Jackson always comes into bloom very late. Its buds gleamed white in the darkness. Every now and then a silence would fall upon us as though the beauty of the night had cast a spell which made conversation seem inappropriate.

Mrs. Scheider has gone with Mrs. Helm to see her christen the Navy ship which is to be named for her husband, so this morning I took possession of her office and felt really businesslike as I sorted the mail. Later I took Mrs. Morgenthau out to Greenbelt and at lunch on the porch, young Janet van Loon came in to tell me of her success in some local broadcasts on government she has been doing for the Bureau of Education. Then we all listened to Martha Gellhorn while she told us of her experiences in Spain. Some of you may have heard her broadcast from Madrid, many of you will have an opportunity to read her articles. She seems to have come back with one deep conviction, "the Spanish people are a glorious people, something is happening in Spain which may mean much to the rest of the world."